Sports in Barcelona Overview

Barcelona’s gorgeous climate was made for playing outside – which explains why the 1992 Summer Olympic Games were held here – so it’s no wonder that most Barcelona sports take place in the open air.

Soccer, much like everywhere else in Spain, is a huge deal, and FC Barcelona has become a profound symbol of Catalan culture, especially when the team battles long-standing rivals Real Madrid. Also known as Barça, the FC team competes in the first division of the Spanish Football League, and routinely ranks as one of the best in Europe. RCD Espanyol is another popular professional sports club, and the RCD soccer team consistently fills its forty-thousand capacity stadium Estadi Cornellà-El Prat.

FC Barcelona Bàsquet, also known as FC Barcelona Regal, brings basketball to the floor, and more than a few of its players have ended up in the NBA in the United States. The Spanish Grand Prix, meanwhile, zips around the Circuit de Catalunya as part of the annual Formula One race car championship season, and rounds out the full offering of sports in Barcelona.